Author Topic: MMM Green Thumbs -- Please God Help Me Design Low-Maintenance Landscaping  (Read 3315 times)

ReadySetMillionaire

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Dramatic title, but whatever. I am so incredibly tired of spending time and money every damn year taking care of mulch beds that go all the way around my house -- especially since I largely don't get any enjoyment out of taking care of them.

Here is my best bet at drawing this to scale (mulch beds in green):



Here is a picture of the house (from a couple years ago when everything was still alive):



Right now, the corners are all taken care of (nice big bush on left, dogwood tree on right). I am going to put hostas on each side of the house. This leaves the front and back yards.

Things to Consider:

0. Looking for two types of plants each for front and back, and just alternating them. For instance, in that picture of the front, probably 3 plants to the left of the porch and 5 to the right, just alternating all of them.

0a. That back right behind the back porch gets almost no light, so alternative suggestions for over there is fine.

1. Highest priority is having the right plants facing the right direction. I screwed this up when I tried putting in other plants two years ago and everything is already beyond dead.

2. Second highest priority is low maintenance. I am going to have all the plants in the open with no canopy -- just rain water should be good. I don't want to re-plant or take care of anything for 15-20 years. Minimal trimming (1-2x a year) is fine.

3. I am in NE Ohio. Climate is very moderate but the soil sucks. These plants need to be durable.

4. I have about $350 in Home Depot gift cards and am considering getting landscaping rocks. My parents got them on their house in the 1990s and they are still there and look good. Not sure what color to get or what type is the best bang for my buck.

5. I like color contrasts, so that would be a plus.

I think that about covers it. Any and all ideas would be great.

Eowyn_MI

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I recommend planting a type of sedum commonly known as "Stonecrop" or "Ice plant" if you haven't tried that yet.  It is a hardy perennial that grows in the sun or the shade and it is not too picky about soil types.  The rabbits don't eat it and the bees love the pinkish-red flowers in the fall.  The only maintenance required is clipping the old flower stems down to ground level once a year.  I live in SE MI and it grows really well here without any extra water or fertilizer.

calimom

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One of the best things you can do is walk around your neighborhood and see what you like/what looks successful. Ask questions of homeowners and gardeners about sources and amount of upkeep. People love to talk about gardening and will likely give you some good ideas.

peace

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You could look into native plants. They should grow in your area with a minimum of intervention, probably just trimming to keep them neat enough for a residential neighborhood.

Here's a site with some Ohio natives, and there are links to nurseries and organizations that could help you choose appropriate plants: http://www.plantnative.org/rpl-inoh.htm

Morning Glory

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I have landscaping rock and I hate it (just one opinion though.) It is no easier than mulch to keep weeds and small trees out.
For the low light areas, hostas are good but you could also try ostrich ferns. They spread like crazy, grow big enough to shade out weeds, and you can eat the fiddle heads in the spring.

If you have a spot where you don't care too much about looks you could do raspberries. They are yummy and also difficult to kill, and they can grow just about anywhere.

Are you friendly with any of your neighbors? Maybe you could check out their landscaping and see what grows well.

pbkmaine

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The most important thing you can do is improve your soil. With the right soil and plants appropriate to the light conditions and plant zone, you can grow anything. 

Ohio State runs the cooperative extension and Master Gardener programs for Ohio. Contact them about soil testing and amendments.

https://extension.osu.edu/ask-an-expert

Here are some fact sheets:

https://ohioline.osu.edu/topic/home-yard-and-garden

TrMama

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For the sunny areas I'd check out some of the dwarf pines. Most max out at 8 ft or less and they don't require trimming more than once/year. Most don't require trimming at all.

Ditto the advice to improve your soil though.

better late

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So this is what I would do for the front of this home, if it were mine.

I see a home that has strong horizontal lines (1- ranch with 2- horizontal trim between the siding and the stonework).
The horizontal trim is at slightly different heights, and intersects with the doorframe.
The color is not bright, but neither is it a neutral
You're in NE Ohio, so a 4-season climate somewhere near zone 6
You have "anchor" plantings at the corners of the front of the house, including a dogwood (which I imagine the color of this is v good with the home)

I would plant evergreen shrubs under the windows in darker green tones. I don't care for shrubs that lose their leaves in the fall/winter right up against the house (or at least not a lot of them) aka "sticks on bricks" and I like the look of snow on rounded shrubs.   On the left I would choose something like boxwood as long as they are tall to fill in under that big window. On the right I would choose Otto Luyken (cherry Laurel) or similar. It will grow a little taller than the boxwood, and if pruned well can balance out the slightly higher trim line on the right side of the house. In all cases I would try to keep any flower on the plant to white. If you already have a mid-green home and pink dogwood, I wouldn't add much more color.

I would not alternate types of plants one after the other.

At the doorway, I might consider a more vertical plant - spire type. But it would need to stay pretty small. I'll think on that. But I think you want a plant that will grow taller than the boxwoods and the cherry laurel and "soften" where the horizontal trim meets the doorframe.

I can't tell how deep your beds are but if there is room after the foundation bushes, I might add some lower growing plants in front of them. I would typically chose a spirea or something like that, but in this case I would stay away from the chartreuse to lime color leaves.   Maybe blue juniper creeping shrubs in front of the boxwood.

Oh and whatever you plant under the big window I would plant at least one of them to the left of the garage, or at least plop one over there to see how it looks.

I think you can likely find most of these plants at Home Depot.

Just my 2cents.

« Last Edit: April 22, 2019, 05:10:04 PM by better late »

ReadySetMillionaire

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Great suggestions so far.  Thanks @better late , @pbkmaine , and others.

The one thing I should add, which I assumed was shown in the picture but isn't really (my bad), is that there is an overhang in the front of about 2 feet.  Anything I've planted towards the back of the bed has died due to lack of sun/water. There are also two huge trees in the front yard that limit morning sun.

Perhaps it's time to suck it up and get one of those hoses that I can just turn on for a half hour.

Or, alternatively, I can just plant towards the front of the beds.

RetiredAt63

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The one thing I should add, which I assumed was shown in the picture but isn't really (my bad), is that there is an overhang in the front of about 2 feet.  Anything I've planted towards the back of the bed has died due to lack of sun/water. There are also two huge trees in the front yard that limit morning sun.

Or, alternatively, I can just plant towards the front of the beds.

Just plant towards the front of the beds.  You want to keep water away from your foundation, and you want access to the house (washing windows, etc.).

For plantings, either low evergreens as better late said, or tough herbaceous perennials.  Then you don't have the bare twigs against the house in the winter.

If you want flowers, plant in clumps - i.e. 3 of something, 5 of something else.  Look at foliage interest as well as flowers.  A garden expert once said a plant in you garden should have 3  uses - i.e. interesting foliage, nice flowers, fruit, whatever.    People tend to forget foliage but we grow hostas and ferns just for the foliage.  Silver mound artemesia is a great perennial for sunny hot dry places, for instance.

better late

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How deep are the beds?
What kind of shade trees are in the front and side yard?

ReadySetMillionaire

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How deep are the beds?
What kind of shade trees are in the front and side yard?

Beds are probably a couple feet deep, but the soil is largely clay. And the people next door to me, who are long time family friend and are avid gardeners, say no matter what they do to the soil, it turns to clay in a couple years.

The trees in the front are two oaks.  They largely shade the entire right side of the house.  Left side gets some sunlight.

TrMama

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Whatever you plant, in the fall when all the leaves fall off your oaks, rake them into the beds to use as mulch. It will help conserve water in the beds, smother weeds, and add much needed organic matter as they break down.

In your shoes, I'd add a basic drip irrigation system using in line emitter tubing. You can add a timer and have it water *just* enough all through the summer. A locally owned irrigation shop should be able to set you up for $2-300. https://www.rainbird.com/products/12-drip-emitter-tubing

Be warned that the drip irrigation supplies at Home Depot are largely crap. Use your gift card to buy some bags of sand and compost to dig into your beds.

Prairie Stash

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How deep are the beds?
What kind of shade trees are in the front and side yard?

Beds are probably a couple feet deep, but the soil is largely clay. And the people next door to me, who are long time family friend and are avid gardeners, say no matter what they do to the soil, it turns to clay in a couple years.

The trees in the front are two oaks.  They largely shade the entire right side of the house.  Left side gets some sunlight.
Replace the soil!

Over the years you can spend a lot of money on soil amendment (sand, peat, fertilizer)or you can replace it. Clay is going to require extra costs for watering, extra work in weeding (tough to pull out), extra work on an intermittent but permanent basis. Clay is a higher maintenance soil.

I pulled a yard of clay out this weekend and replaced it with topsoil (free from the city compost depot). No matter how much I put into the clay, it was still largely clay. I could have paid to have it hauled away and replaced and it still would be cheaper than amending the soil. Amendments on clay seem like a good idea until you add up the costs over the years and realize it would have been cheaper just to replace it. I may be bitter that I didn't do it sooner.

RetiredAt63

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Over the years you can spend a lot of money on soil amendment (sand, peat, fertilizer)or you can replace it. Clay is going to require extra costs for watering, extra work in weeding (tough to pull out), extra work on an intermittent but permanent basis. Clay is a higher maintenance soil.

I pulled a yard of clay out this weekend and replaced it with topsoil (free from the city compost depot). No matter how much I put into the clay, it was still largely clay. I could have paid to have it hauled away and replaced and it still would be cheaper than amending the soil. Amendments on clay seem like a good idea until you add up the costs over the years and realize it would have been cheaper just to replace it. I may be bitter that I didn't do it sooner.

My whole yard is clay.  Basically all my gardening beds are raised beds, including the foundation plantings at the front.

Doing a really basic soil texture analysis might be useful.
https://norganics.com/index-2/technical-articles/soil-texture-analysis/

Adding organic material to clay soil just makes it a clay soil richer in organic matter.  Adding sand and silt could help.  Adding limestone can help loosen it.  Adding dolomitic limestone (i.e. with magnesium) will hurt, it make the clay tighter.

Prairie Stash

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@ReadySetMillionaire your parents have landscape rock,what do they have around the rock? My rocks get full of tree needles and leaves that require regular cleaning out. If you leave too much in the rocks it eventually fills with dirt and sprouts weeds. Unless you use herbicide.

Rock mulch and trees is a bad idea in my experience. Wood mulch allows you to cover crap up periodically, when it eventually rots you peel it back and throw out the light dirt underneath. With rocks I have to clean them out and sieve the dirt from the rocks. Sieving rocks is BS.

ReadySetMillionaire

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Thanks everyone for the replies.  I took the forum's advice to (1) use that website to ask an expert (thanks @pbkmaine ); (2) improve soil; (3) walk around the neighborhood to see what plants grew on houses facing the same direction as my house (thanks @calimom ); (4) don't simply alternate, but add some variety both horizontally and vertically (thanks @better late ); and (5) bought native plants from a local place that grows all of its plants in the county immediately north of here (thanks @peace ).

When digging out the old plants, I noticed the soil was not as bad as I thought it was. So I got about 10 bags of garden soil, tilled the soil, and hopefully that improves things.

I also decided to remove the landscape rock at the edge of the beds.  I like the clean edge and it made the beds a little bigger, allowing me to bring the plants more to the front. This gets them a little more light in the afternoon and allows you to see the plants from the street better.

I ended up going largely for dwarf arborvitae plants (some evergreen as recommended, some yellow).  I wanted nice, slow-growing round plants (since my house is boxy). These grow very slowly and are incredibly low maintenance.  I also got 2 yellow/green shrubs and two red shrubs (they aren't bloomed yet) to add some color.

Lastly, after walking the neighborhood, I noticed that almost nobody had any plants planted directly under the large awning.  No water gets back there and everything dies. So I decided to create a little bit of depth by alternating everything at the front.

The total cost of this was about $750, but with my Home Depot gift cards, it was about $450. I think it was well worth it if anyone is considering doing something similar.

PS: this took long enough that I'm just going to wait to do the back next year.

Before:








After:







« Last Edit: May 07, 2019, 09:25:05 AM by ReadySetMillionaire »

calimom

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Nice job @ReadySetMillionaire ! And no small amount of labor I know. Love the plant selection and the contrast of the rich dark soil against the green lawn is striking. Agree that it looks cleaner and crisper without the rock border.

Cranky

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PSA - it is a big fat lie that NE Ohio is now a zone 6. Don’t believe it or you will be replacing plants all the time.

Otherwise, I’m not much help because my yard is a giant chaotic cottage garden time suck, with tomatoes and raspberries in the front yard. People stop and take pictures, so probably they are mocking my garden somewhere on the internet. Don’t care.

Linea_Norway

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If you ever get bored with it gardening again, I would suggest covering the area with an anti-weed cloth, covering that with gravel or leca and give up on having plants there.
I have had this issue in my previous home and it is difficult to keep plants alive that stand a lot in the shadow. We moved out after the last try.

couponvan

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Chiming in to say that your new yard looks great!  I sympathize with how long that must have taken, as I've just planted an entire yard myself.  I enjoy gardening though, so I hope my clay soil doesn't destroy everything I've planted!  I kind of wish I'd gone the antiweed fabric and soil route.  Maybe in 2-3 years....

ReadySetMillionaire

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I did put down a bunch of anti-weed fertilizer under the mulch, so hopefully that keeps the weeds at Bay. I'm planning on putting it down twice a year. If it works as good as weed and feed, I'll be fine.

Firehazard

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You've already done your beds, and they look great.  If you ever want to add some flowers, though, Sweet Drift shrub roses are a fantastic low maintenance choice.  I have soil that is so full of red clay you could make pottery from it, but those roses thrive regardless, and I am no green thumb.  They get about three feet tall and spread horizontally to about 4-5 feet across, and are covered in clusters of smallish pink old-fashioned looking roses from spring until frost.  All I do is give them a light haircut once a year to keep them in bounds and a few handfuls of fertilizer.  I can't imagine what they would do if I actually had decent soil. I've planted them anywhere I find to be a trouble spot for other plants and they just take over the space and add so much charm to the yard.  The first couple of years I pruned them down to just about 10 inches tall in the spring and found a bunch of baby rose plants underneath, which I transplanted to other beds.  They all grew large and beautiful.  They really reduce the amount of mulch we have to spread each year, since each plant covers so much space.

cooking

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Firehazard, Would it be possible for you to post a picture?

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!